Monsoons are winds that blow onshore during the summer. They blow offshore during the winter. The most well known monsoons happen in the Northern region of the Indian Ocean. Monsoons are caused by unequal heating of land and sea.
Monsoon winds usually blow onshore from April to October. In the Northern Indian Ocean, they bring heavy rains to normally dry places. Monsoons also happen on a smaller scale in Africa, China, Spain, and the United States
In the summer the land is warmer than the sea. The warm land air rises and is then replaced by by moist air from the sea. This moist air produces the heavy rain that happens during a monsoon. In the winter the ocean is warmer than the land. The warm sea air rises and is then replaced by cool, dry, land air.
The summer monsoons bring heavy rain to India from June to September.This sometimes causes landslides that sweep away whole villages. But still farmers need the this rain to irrigate.They also use it to generate their electricity.
The monsoon festival of Teej is held in Rajasthan between July and August. In India good monsoons bring fortuinous life and good harvests. According to legend this festival reunites family. The rains caused by monsoons give the desert life and helps crops grow. They are thanking the Gods for the blessings on their people.
During ca 1400 and 1850AD was the little ice age. It was a smaller version of the earlier ice age. This almost ended life. There are anywhere from 200 million to 1 billion people in the Indian monsoon area. If they have a recurrence of weak monsoons as before, it would affect the people tremendously.
These are some safety tips on how to stay safe in a monsoon storm.
- Never stand anywhere elevated.
- Stay away from power lines.
- Make sure you have a disaster and first aid kit.
- Stay away from windows and glass.
- Stay away from trees.
- Avoid metal objects during lightning.
- Never stand in an open area.
- Don’t use land line telephones unless for emergencies.
- Don’t use sinks or showers.
- Unplug electronic equipment.
